Exploratmi IVork of the Institution 471 



lime of its series of publications consisted of a work by 

 Messrs, Squier and Davis, entitled 'The Ancient Monuments 

 of the Mississippi Valley,' which, appearing in 1848, gave a 

 stimulus to archaeological research in America, and aided 

 greatly in exciting that high degree of interest in the subject 

 which now pervades the whole country. The work, although 

 thirty years old [in 1878], is still a standard publication, and 

 greatly sought after." ^ 



An account of the history of the Bureau of Ethnology will 

 be found in another part of this volume, and it will suffice 

 here to remark that it originated with the explorations of the 

 Colorado River by Major J. W. Powell in 1867, 1868, and 

 1869, which were fostered by Professor Henry, and were ex- 

 tended afterward into a survey of the Rocky Mountain region 

 under the direction of the Institution. 



The ethnological investigations were finally separated from 

 those relating to geography and geology, and in 1879 were 

 placed in the hands of a special bureau, under the direction 

 of the Institution. 



In 1875 Secretary Henry, taking cognizance of the work 

 then being carried on by Major Powell, placed in his care, in 

 accordance with the policy pursued in all similar cases, the 

 linguistic manuscripts belonging to the Institution. The 

 Secretary remarked : 



" For a number of years the Institution has been collect- 

 ing, as a part of its work in the line of ethnology, Indian vo- 

 cabularies, and of these the number amounts to 670. ... It 

 was the intention of the Institution to publish these vocabu- 

 laries as a part of the volumes of the Smithsonian Contribu- 

 tions to Knowledge, and also in a separate form for more 

 general distribution to philologists actually engaged in the 

 comparative study of languages of savage tribes. An offer, 

 however, was made by Major J. W. Powell, who had also 



1 " Smithsonian Report," 1879, page 38. 



